August 8, 2011

Agnosticism – The belief that nobody can really know if there is a God.

Amillennialism – The teaching that there is no literal 1000 year reign of Christ as referenced in Revelation 20. It sees the 1000 year period spoken of in Revelation 20 as figurative. Instead, it teaches that we are in the millennium now, and that at the return of Christ (1 Thess. 4:16 – 5:2) there will be the final judgment and the heavens and the earth will then be destroyed and remade (2 Pet. 3:10). The Amillennial view is as old as the Premillennial view which says there is a future 1000 years reign of Christ and Postmillennialism which states that in the future, the world will be converted and we will usher in the kingdom of God.

Anabaptists – The group, hunted and persecuted, was mockingly called ‘Anabaptist’ for rejecting infant baptism and practicing believers’ baptism.

Ananias [an uh NIGH uhs] – Greek for of Hebrew name meaning “the Lord has acted graciously”, with Sapphira hi wife, a deceitful couple in the early church.

Anthropology – The study of the purpose and nature of humanity, both in its pre-fall and post-fall state.

Apocrypha – Also called the Deuterocanonical Books means “hidden”; a collection of writings not included in the Hebrew Scripture, considered noncanonical by Protestants but accepted by Roman Catholics. Also sometimes includes unauthenticated additions to the New Testament. See also Pseudepigrapha.

Apostolic – The life of the apostles. The teaching of the apostles.

Apologetic Theology – Theology that is done to defend the faith against those who oppose outside the church

Arianism – Posits Jesus as a lesser begotten or created son of God, and which discards His eternal divine nature. Arianism has persisted to this day in the teachings of the Mormons and Jehovah’s Witnesses.

Aristotle – Greek Philosophy. The real is from down below in the material world. The Socratic “form” is a material substance, something that you can see or feel or has substance.

Arminianism – (from http://www.gotquestions.org/arminianism.html) Answer: Arminianism is a system of belief that attempts to explain the relationship between God’s sovereignty and mankind’s free will, especially in relation to salvation. Arminianism is named after Jacob Arminius (1560-1609), a Dutch theologian. While Calvinism emphasizes the sovereignty of God, Arminianism emphasizes the responsibility of man. If Arminianism is broken down into five points, similar to the five points of Calvinism, these would be the five points:

Partial Depravity – humanity is tainted by sin, but not to the extent that we cannot chose to come to God on our own. We are capable of choosing to accept salvation or reject it without any influence from God. Note – classical Arminianism rejects “partial depravity” and holds a view very close to Calvinistic “total depravity.”

Conditional Election – God chose who would be saved based on knowing beforehand who would believe. God chooses those who He knows will believe.

Unlimited Atonement – Jesus died for everyone, even those who are not chosen and will not believe. Jesus’ death was for all of humanity, and anyone can be saved by belief in Him.

Resistible Grace – God’s call to be saved can be resisted and/or rejected. We can resist God’s pull toward salvation if we choose to.

Conditional Salvation – Christians can lose their salvation if they continue in a life of sin and/or fall away from God. The maintenance of salvation is required for a Christian to retain it. Note – many Arminians deny “conditional salvation” and instead hold to “eternal security.”

Ascetic – One who leads a life of self-discipline especially as an act of religious devotion or penance

Athesism – The belief that there is no God.

Atonement – Man’s reconciliation with God after having transgressed the covenant (promise).

Recapitulation Theory of the Atonement: Belief that Christ lived a perfect life that Adam could not live. Christ recapitulated all stages of the human life – birth, infancy, childhood, teenage, manhood – and obeyed the Law perfectly. Salvation is made possible by virtue of his perfect life.

Ransom to Satan Theory of the Atonement: Belief that by virtue of Adam’s sin, all humanity was sold into bondage to Satan who had “legal” rights to them. Christ, by his death, made a payment to Satan, buying them back and making salvation possible.

Moral Example Theory of the Atonement: Belief that Christ came to show people how to live so that they would turn to him in love. His death was not required and has no atoning value, but only serves as a moral example for people to follow.

Governmental Theory of the Atonement: Christ’s death was a “nominal” substitute for the penalty of sin of man, which God gracioulsy chose to accept, thereby upholding his moral government.

Vicarious Substitutionary View of the Atonement: The atonment is made on the cross when Christ vicariously bore the exact penalty of his people, thereby placating the wrath of God and satisfying his reighteousness.

Benediction – A blessed state. An invocation of diving blessing usually at the end of a church service.

Bibliology – The study of the nature, transmission, canonization, and purpose of ScriptureCanon – Of Christian origin. Collection of religious writings. Divinely inspired.

Candace [KAN duh see] – word of uncertain meaning; probably a royal titled rather than a family name; the queen of Ethiopia whose servant was baptized as a believer in Christ by Philip.

Cappadcia [KAP uh DOH shih uh] province in Asia Minor (modern Turkey)

Christocentric – Making Christ the center, about whom all things are grouped, as in religion or history; tending toward Christ, as the central object of thought or emotion.

Christology The study of the person and work of Christ.

Church History:

ban is when you mount a crusade against an individual, family, or kingdom

edict is excommunication of a person

interdict is putting a whole nation under excom¬munication

Compatibilism – Belief that a person’s life and choices are totally and unalterably the result of an endless series of cause and effects. The belief that God’s unconditional sovereign election and human ressponsibility are both realities taught in Scripture that finite minds cannot comprehend and must be held in tension.

Complementarianism – Position that the Bible teaches that men and women are of equal worth, dignity, and responsibility before God (ontological equality). The Bible also teaches that men and women have different roles to play in society, the family, and the church. These roles do not compete but complement each other.

Conditional Election – The belief that God’s election is conditional, being based on his foreknowledge. God looks ahead into the future, sees who will make a free-will decision to place their faith in him, and then elects to save them. Or as contemporary Arminians would put it, God elects Christ and all who are found in him.

Consecration – Dedicated to a sacred purpose. To make Holy

Countenance – Support. Approval.

Cypriot [SIP rih aht] – citizen of Cyprus, a large island in the he eastern Mediterranean Sea.Deism – The belief that God created the world but is not now involved in it.

Cyrene [sigh REE nee] city of the North African coast south of the island of Crete.

Docetism – A heretical belief that Christ only “seemed” to have a human body and to suffer on the cross. The first heresy that the church had to deal with. It was presented by the gnostics.

Doctrine= biblical truth.

Ecclesiology – Theology. the doctrine of the church. The policy and operations of the church.

Ecumenism – World wide unit and cooperation among all Christian churches.

Effectual call – The call of the holy Spirit goes out to the elect, effectually calling them to repent and believe the Gospel (internal call).

Egalitarianism – Position that the Bible does not teach tht women are in any sense, functionally or ontologically, subservient to men. Women and men hold ministry positions according to their gifts, not their gender. The principle of mutual submission teaches that husbands and wives are to submit to eeach other equally.

Eisogesis – reading “into” the text something that is not there. [eis is Greek, meaning “in to”]. See “exegesis” below.

Elamites [EE Kuhn ights] – citizens of Elam, a Elgin on the western edge of ancient Persia (modern Iran)

Eschatology = The study of the end times.

Ethical worldview: Moral laws do exist and apply to all people of all times, having their basis in God. [The Theology Program, Credo House]

Exegesis – A critical explanation or interpretation of a text, especially a religious text. Traditionally the term was used primarily for exegesis of the Bible.

Epicurean – (Greek Philosophy) The senses become the sole
criterion for truth. Hedonism is an offshoot of Epicureanism.

Epistemological worldview – Truth is absolute, has its ground in God, and is acquired primarily through general and special revelation. [The Theology Program, Credo House Publishing]

Epistemology:

“The theory or science of the method or grounds of knowledge.” —Webster’s Dictionary

“The branch of philosophy that is concerned with the theory of knowledge. It is an inquiry into the nature and source of knowledge, the bounds of knowledge, and the justification of claims to knowledge.” —Paul Feinberg

Evangelicalism – Protestant Christian. Its key commitments are:

The need for personal conversion (or being “born again”);

A high regard for biblical authority;

An emphasis on teachings that proclaim the saving death and resurrection of the Son of God, Jesus Christ;

Actively expressing and sharing the gospel.

Exclusivism – The belief that Christ is the only way to God.

ex nihilo – Out of “nothing”. Example: God created the universe ex nihilo.

ex opere operato – Belief accepted by Roman Catholics and rejected by Protestants that the sacraments administer grace to the recipient by virtue of the act itself through the power given to the Church, regardless of the faith of the individual.

extra ecclesiam nulla salus – Belief that since the Church held the “keys to heaven” through the administration of the sacraments, there was no possibility of salvation outside the institution of the Church. This was the belief of many in the medieval church, but was rejected by the Reformers and later rejected by Roman Catholics at Vatican II (1962 – 1965).

Fatalism – Belief that a person’s life and choices are totally and unalterably the result of an endless series of cause and effects.

Flesh – The principle force of human nature that is bent towards sin.

Free Grace Salvation – The belief that salvation is by faith alone. Repentance and submitting to Christ’s Lordship is something that only a born again believer can do.

Gamaliel [guh MAY lie uhl] – Grandson of a great Jewish rabi (Hillel); highly regarded Pharisee and teacher of the law who advised the Sanhedrin not to condemn to death Christ’s apostles; teacher of Saul of Tarsus (Paul).

General Call – The call of God’s message that goes out to many people, elect and non-elect, ultimately calling them to repent and believe in the Gospel (external call).

Hallelujah – exclamation of praise meaning “Praise Yahweh!”

Hamartiology – The study of the nature, origin, and effects of sin on all creation.

Hellenism – Greek culture.

Hermeneutics – From “Greek for “interpretation”; the study of the principles for sound, systematic interpretation of Scripture.

Hermon – place name meaning “devoted mountain” and located in the extreme north of Israel.

Humanism - deification of man

any system or mode of thought or action in which human interests, values, and dignity predominate.

Philosophy; a variety of ethical theory and practice that emphasizes reason, scientific inquiry, and human fulfillment in the natural world and often rejects the importance of belief in God.

Hypostatic Union – Union refers to the joining of two natures. Hypostatic to the one person of the Son of God. Belief in a perfect union of two distinct but never separate natures – one human and one divine, in one integral, external divine person.

Hyssop – a small, bushy plant well suited for use as a brush to dab the doorpost of Israelite homes with the blood of the passover lambs (Exodus 12:22); also associated with purification rights, such as cleansing of lepers (Leviticus 14:4).

Iconoclastic – Destruction of icons.

Illumination – The act whereby God enlightens people to understand his revelation and its relevance to their lives.

Imputation – Refers to the transferal of the sin of man to Christ while he was on the cross.

Immanence – God is actively involved in the affairs of creation.

Immutability – Refers to that which is beyond change.

Imputed Sin – Specifically refers to the transferal of the sinful nature. (Also: original corruption, original pollution, sinful nature.)

Inclusivism – The belief that Christ’s atonment is the only way that anyone can be saved, but that one does not necessarily need to have knowledge of Christ to have the atonement applied to them. The belief that salvation is only through Christ, but Christ may be revealed in other religions.

Indulgence (Catholic term) An indulgence is a remission of the temporal punishment due to sin, the guilt of which has been forgiven.

Ineffable – Indescribable.

Inerrancy – The doctrinal teaching that the Scriptures in the autographa (original manuscripts) are true in all that they teach, and thus without error. See Chicago Statement of Biblical Inerrancy

Infallibility: The doctrinal teaching sometimes used synonymously with inerrancy, that the Scriptures cannot fail in matters of faith and practice.

Inherited Sin – Secifically refers to the guilt or condemnation of th efirst sin which was imputed to humanity. (Also: original guilt.)

Iniquity – one of several Old Testament terms for sin (Hebrew, awon); denotes a deliberate overstepping of the limits of God’s law.

Inspiration – The act whereby God guided the writers of Scripture, giving them His words while fully utilizing the human element within man to produce the scripture.

Irenic Theology: Theology that is done peaceably, accurately representing all view, even when you oppose them. (This study’s starting point will always be Irenic.)

Imputation – The understanding that God justifies sinners by reckoning Christ’s righteousness to their account through a legal declaration.

Insidious – Awaiting a chance to trap. Treacherous, seductive.

Irresistible Grace – The belief that God’s call to the elect will always be effectual in bringing about their salvation.

Jesuits: the Society of Jesus, a Roman Catholic order of priests founded by St. Ignatius Loyola. The order was zealous in opposing the Reforma¬tion. Despite periodic persecu-tion it has retained an important influence in Catholic thought and education.

Justification – A forensic declaration in which a sinner is declared righteous while still in a sinning state.

Lilt – A lively or cheerful manner of speaking.

Lordship Salvation – The belief that salvation includes both fath and repentance, which are two sides of the same coin. In repentance, thje believer is committing to give up all known sin, thereby making Christ Lord of his or her life.

LXX which is the identifier for the Septuagint – The ancient Greek translation of the Jewish scriptures. An old testament source for early Christians. Credible proof for Messianic prophecy. Often shown as LXX in books. LXX stands for the 70 scribes who were sent to Judea to produce the Greek translation of the Hebrew Law.

Massah – from the root word meaning “test,” a place near Mount Sinai where the Israelites put God to the test by demanding water (Exodus 17:7).

Medes – citizens of a region located north of Eam that was once part of the ancient Persian Empire.

Mesopotamia – region including what today is Iraq.

Metaphysical worldview – There is something, and an infinite Creator is responsible for creating all that there is. He is completely separate from creation and created it out of His own good pleasure, not out of necessity. [The Theology Program, Credo House]

Monotheism – The Shema in Deuteronomy 6:4: “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God [is] one LORD” is the cry of monotheism⎯God is one. Our God is one God. That characteristic of monotheism comes from the context of the Jews, who worshiped the same Father God as do the Christians today. God Who is over us here today is the same God that was over the Jews in the days of the Exodus.

Mortal Sin – Sins against God’s Law that destroy the grace of God in the heart of the sinner thereby cutting of his or her relationship with God.

Mutability – Refers to that which undergoes change.

New Man – The new way of life that is energized by the power of the Spirit.

Objectivism = The belief that truth is an objective reality that exist whether someone believes it or not.

Old Man – The former way of life that is energized by the power of the flesh.

Ontologically – Refers to God’s actual being.

Ordo Salutis – (From Wikepedia) Ordo salutis, (Latin: “order of salvation”) refers to a series of conceptual steps within the Christian doctrine of salvation. It has been defined as “a technical term of Protestant dogmatics to designate the consecutive steps in the work of the Holy Spirit in the appropriation of salvation.”[1] Although there is within Christian theology a certain sense in which the phases of salvation are sequential,[2] some elements, are understood to occur progressively and others instantaneously.[3] Furthermore, some steps within the “order of salvation” are regarded as objective (or monergistic), performed solely by God, while others are considered subjective (or synergistic), involving humanity. Christians prior to the Protestant Reformation, while not using the exact phrase, sought to order the elements of salvation.[4] The term “Ordo salutis” was first used by Lutheran theologians in the mid-1720s.[5]

Original Sin: A broad term that refers to the effects that the first sin had on humanityt; the “origin” of sin.

Orthodox – Conventional, conservative.

Palestine – the holy land. Jerusalem. Israel. Canaan. Southern Syria.

Pamphylia – price of ancient Asia Minor (modern Turkey

Parochial – Narrowly restricted.

Pantheism – The belief that all there is is God. I am God, you are God, we are all Gods.

Parthians – citizen of Parthia, a region in the northwest part of ancient Persia (modern Iran).

Patristic – Pertaining to the writings of the fathers of the Christian church.

Pelagianism – The belief that man is inherently good. The Fall did not bring condemnation upon any but Adam. As well, the disposition of will is unaffected. Man sins as a result of bad examples that began with Adam.

Pentateuch. See Torah below

Perseverance of the Saints (Eternal Security) – The belief that true believers will persevere in their faith and cannot ever be lost.

Personal Sin – Specifically refers to the sins that are committed by individuals.

Perspectivism = The belief that truth is found in the combined perspectives of many. “We all carry our own baggage.”

Pharisee – Jewish Sect origin during the two centuries before Christ. Orthodox. Pharisee means “separated ones.” Name probably meant they had separated themselves from the corrupting influence of Hellenism.

Phrygia – region that lay east of Asia Minor (modern Turkey)

Piety – Religious devotion and reverence to God

Pious – Having or displaying reverence & earnest compliance in the observance of religion. Devout.

Platonism – Greek Philosophy. The real is up in the realm of the ideal. It is of the non-material realm. The material realm is the shadow world.

Pluralism: The belief that all belief systems ultimately point in the same direction and to the same God, even if the belief systems themselves are contradictory. The belief that there are many ways to God that are equally valid.

Pneumatology The study of the person and work of the Holy Spirit. The “wind”.

Polemic Theology: Theology that is done in a warlike manner inside the Church, prophetically speaking against those with whom there is disagreement.

Pontus – region south of the Black Sea in what today is Turkey.

Pragmatism – The belief that truth is ultimately defined by that which works to accomplish the best outcome. “The end justifies the means.”

Precipitancy – Impulsive. Rash. Abrupt. Unexpected.

Predestination –

Single Predestination – God predestines the elect to eternal life, and passivly destines the non-elect by “passing over” them, choosing not to elect them, leaving them in their sins, destined to eternal punishment.

Double Predestination – The belief that God predestines the elect to eternal life, and the rest are predestined to hell. God does this by actively hardening their hearts and preparing them for unbelief.

Premillennialism, in Christian eschatology, is the belief that Jesus will physically return to the earth to gather His saints before the Millennium, a literal thousand-year golden age of peace. This return is referred to as the Second Coming. The doctrine is called “premillennialism” because it holds that Jesus’ physical return to earth will occur prior to the inauguration of the Millennium. It is distinct from the other forms of Christian eschatology such as postmillennialism or amillennialism, which view the millennial rule as occurring either before the second coming, or as being figurative and non-temporal.

Propitiation – An offering or sacrifice. Sufficient to win forgiveness. To appease. The act whereby God’s righteous wrath is satisfied by the atonement of Christ.

Prolegomena – Literally means “things which are spoken beforehand.” Deals with the foundational issues of theology such as theological methodology, sources, and reasons for the study of theology.

Sacralism – The confluence of church and state wherein one is called upon to change the other. (Like Catholic infant baptism. Infant baptism is something that unites the world and the Church together in such a way that the world can be comfortable because it gains its holiness from the Church through infant baptism. The Church has satisfied the world. As a reward, the world blesses the Church by recognizing it as a legitimate institution.).

Sapphira – name meaning “beautiful” or “sapphire”; with her husband, Ananas, a deceitful couple in the early church.

Salvation – An event and a process in which people are brought into a right relationship with God.

Sanctification – A lifelong process in which believers become conformed to the image of Christ, relying on the power of God to mortify sin in their lives.

Sanctified – To make free from sin. Purify.

Seleucids – the Syrian rulers are termed Seleucids because their kingdom was founded by Seleucids 1

Septuagint – The ancient Greek translation of the Jewish scriptures. An old testament source for early Christians. Credible proof for Messianic prophecy. Often shown as LXX in books. LXX stands for the 70 scribes who were sent to Judea to produce the Greek translation of the Hebrew Law.

Simul iustus et peccator – Luther’s paradoxical dictum explaining that a Christian has a legal or forensic righteous standing before God according to the work of Christ, while at the same time lives as a sinner according to his own merits.

Skepticism – The belief that truth cannot be known with certainty.

Socrates – Greek Philosophy. The Socratic philosophy is one in which everybody came from the basic construct of being—i.e. forms; the soul comes from the world of forms. As a result of men’s common source of origin, knowledge is nothing more than soul memory; knowledge is from the inside, not acquired from without. Intuition becomes valid for guiding your life than an actual outside gathering of data. The Socratic soul memory is where you discover truth on the inside rather than from the outside. Knowledge is the self-enlightenment of thought. We have this in the church— i.e. “I have a vision.”

Soteriology – The study of salvation.

Springs – Actuating forces.

Stoicism – Greek Philosphy. The world logos, which today is called the cosmic spirit, is an advancing or progressive view of mankind. That philosophy says that today’s people are smarter and
know more about what the Constitution of the United States says than its authors knew. This is a growing philosophy in America especially in the realm of hermeneutics. Stoicism’s cosmic spirit, or world logos, is supposedly making us smarter than our forefathers, and that means then that we know more about what Paul wrote than Paul did.

Subjectivism – The belief that all truth is subjective, being defined by the perspective of the individual.

Suzerain – Sovereign, supreme. Having authority over.

Syncretism – The assimilation of differing beliefs and practices.

Theism – God is infinite, sovereign, yet personal creator of the universe and is active in the world today.

Theistic worldview that believes an eternal God freely created all of existence (time, space, matter, celestial realms and bodies) out of nothing (ex nihilo) and that He continues to act within the creation in varying degrees. God is the Creator of the universe and He exists beyond it and He acts within it. [ The Theology Program, Credo House Publishing]

Theological worldview – Is there a God? Who or what is God? What is His relationship to the universe? [The Theology Program, Credo House]

Theophilus – name meaning “lover of God”; individual to whom Luke addressed both his Gospel and Acts, and who may have supports Luke financially in writing the two works.

Theology:

Tabloid Theology = Naïve hearsay; no basis in fact; can be “cutting edge” in some peoples minds.

Folk Theology = uncritically and unreflectively constructs their theology based off of traditions or religious folklore. Usually dogmatic and militant about their theology because they have no other way to defend it. Their passion has to guide them because there is no truth to base their religion on.

Ministerial Theology = educated, uses study tools; intent on spending more time on reflection so that theological integration can take place. Does NOT mean you are a minister.

Professional Theology = constructs theology and makes a living do so. They are said to “quench the spirit” because they do not usually tolerate tabloid theology or folk theology.

Academic Theology = Professional theologian who constructs his theology with an overly speculative and critical spirit. Closed minded. Will not believe anything that he/she “knows” is correct. Not a good thing. Often called “Ivory Tower” theology.

Tonsorial – When the monk has a circular spot in the middle of his hair shaved. The monk ends up with a ring of hair circling his head with a bald spot in the top and middle of his head.

Torah – The first five books of the written Jewish bible. There are also some who would include the “spoken” Torah in this definition. Christian scholars sometime refer to these books as The Pentateuch, meaning five books.

Transcendence – God is above and beyond all creation, including time.

Unconditional Election – The belief that God predestined people for salvation before the beginning of time. God’s election is not conditioned by anything in man, good or evil, forseen or present, but upon God’s sovereign choice.

Universalism – The belief that all people, good or bad, will eventually make it to Heaven.

Venial sin – Sins against God’s Law that do not destroy the grace of God.

Vernacular – is the native language or native dialect of a specific population, as opposed to a language of wider communication that is not native to the population, such as a national language

VIVIFICATION. Dying to sin, living to righteousness.

Verbal Plenary – A type of Inspiration of the biblical scriptures. All scripture is inspired by God who utilized the human element within man to accomplish this without error. 100% man, 100% God. (The term “plenary” means = full; complete; entire, absolute)

Vulgate – Jerome’s 4th century Latin translation of the bible.

Worldview – The sum total of a person’s answers to the most important questions in life. There are SEVEN basic worldviews [The Theology Program, Credo House]:

Theism

Deism

Pantheism

Polytheism

Pluralism

Naturalism

LATIN:

Hic et nunc – latin for “here and now”

Litera – meaning “letter”. To interpret something means to pay attention to the letters and words that are written.

Quadriga – In hermeneutics, the Quadriga was a method of interpretation that developed in the early church and survived up to medieval times. The “Quadriga” was based on Greek philosophy such as Plato’s allegories and Origen used this method of interpretation on the Scripture. Origen taught that each passage simultaneously has a four-fold method of interpretation (hence the name Quadriga).

In this view the text had four layers of meaning: the literal, the moral, the allegorical and the anagogical. The literal is the plain obvious meaning. The moral was what it meant for human behavior. The allegorical meaning is what it means for our faith, beliefs or doctrines. The anagogical meaning is what it tells us about the future (heaven).

For example take a reference to the city of Jerusalem. In the literal sense this meant the physical city of Jerusalem. Morally it could represent the human soul. Allegorically it could be used to represent the Church of Christ. Finally, anagogically, it could be referring the new heavenly Jerusalem. Unfortunately, this method led to many wild speculations about the meaning of certain passages. Martin Luther and the Protestant Reformation changed that. Now we focus on the literal interpretation – the Historical-Grammatical Method.